Elena Kostenko

Elena Mikhailovna Kostenko (Еле́на Миха́йловна Косте́нко; 9 August 1926 – 26 September 2019) was a Soviet Russian painter, living and working in Saint Petersburg, a member of the Saint Petersburg Union of Artists (before 1992 the Leningrad branch of Union of Artists of Russian Federation), regarded as one of the major representatives of the Leningrad school of painting, most famous for her portrait paintings.

Elena Mikhailovna Kostenko was born on 9 August 1926 in Leningrad.

Her father, Mikhail Kostenko, was an Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, one of the major organizers of Soviet science.

In 1938, Elena Kostenko entered at the Leningrad Secondary Art School under the All-Russian Academy of Arts, which is trained with a break until 1946.

Her teachers were Leonid Ovsyannikov, Alexander Zaytsev, Leonid Sholokhov, Alexander Debler, Vladimir Gorb.

Together with Elena Kostenko in Leningrad Secondary Art School studied many well known in the future Russian artists and sculptors including Mikhail Anikushin, Evgenia Antipova, Vladimir Chekalov, Abram Grushko, Iya Venkova, Maya Kopitseva, Anatoli Levitin, Oleg Lomakin, Nina Veselova, Vecheslav Zagonek, Alexei Eriomin, Marina Kozlovskaya, Yuri Tulin, Victor Teterin, and others.

Creative atmosphere that prevailed in those years in Leningrad Secondary Art School, meet the aspirations of its pupils.

Teachers inculcate a taste and love for true art, and to get creative impulses of the actual life.

This reflected a realistic direction of the Leningrad School of painting.

In 1946, after graduating from Secondary Art School Elena Kostenko enters the first year of painting faculty of the Leningrad Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture named after Ilya Repin.

She studied of Semion Abugov, Yuri Neprintsev, Mikhail Platunov, Andrei Mylnikov.

Among the portraits created by Elena Kostenko in 1950–1970, can be called "Portrait of actress Galina Korotkevich" (1956), "Portrait of A. Shennikov, Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR" (1960), "Portrait of P. Baranov, Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR" (1961), "Portrait of M. Kostenko, Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR" (1963), "Portrait of artist Mikhail Platunov" (1972), "Portrait of Academician V. Sochava" (1976), and others.

During these years, Elena Kostenko many painted children and youth, with interest continuing the theme begun in graduation picture.

In 1952 Elena Kostenko graduated from Leningrad Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture named after Ilya Repin in Viktor Oreshnikov personal Art Studio, together with Irina Baldina, Boris Lavrenko, Vladimir Chekalov, Boris Korneev, Abram Grushko, Oleg Lomakin, Alexei Eriomin, Marina Kozlovskaya, and well-known other artists.

Her graduation work was genre painting "Future Builders. Kindergarten".

Close creative communication and friendship with them will remain at Elena Kostenko for many years.

Since 1952, Elena Kostenko begins to participate in art exhibitions of Leningrad artists.

Her first exhibition was the demonstration of graduates of Repin Institute of 1952.

In the spring of the next year, she participates in citywide "Spring exhibition of works by Leningrad artists of 1953" with its first independent creative work -"A Portrait of sculptor A. Kryzhanovskaya" (1953).

A work has been featured, it was placed in the reproduction of exhibition catalogue.

Since then, the portrait becomes a leading genre for Elena Kostenko.

In different years, it carried away working on still lifes, landscapes, genre scenes.

But the greatest fame and recognition will receive her portraits of contemporaries – men of science and art, as well as children's images.

Among the works created by her "Portrait of schoolgirl Ira Zykova" (1953), "After the Bathing" (1964), "Portrait of Lena Molteninova" (1975), "Katya" (1960) and "Mikhail" (1960), "Friends" (1974), "Morning" (1967), and others.

As models for her portraits Elena Kostenko often elect their relatives, especially her sons Vladimir and Michael.

This allows to convey in the work of a special "thrill of life", to achieve full contact between artist and model, as well as of a certain view of man, which in the opinion of Elena Kostenko is the most important in the art of portrait.

Among them are works "Offended" (1963), "Winter Morning" (1964), "Portrait of son" (1969), "Students" (1977), fairly attributable to the undoubted success of the author.

Her personal exhibitions were in Belgorod (1981, together with Marina Kozlovskaya) and in Leningrad (1986).

In 1989–1992 her paintings were exhibited at the exhibitions and auctions of Russian paintings L'Ecole de Leningrad and others in France, Belgium, United Kingdom.

Paintings by Elena Mikhailovna Kostenko reside in Art museums and private collections in the Russia, France, Japan, Italy, in the U.S., England, and throughout the world.

Elena Kostenko was a member of Saint Petersburg Union of Artists (before 1992 named as the Leningrad branch of Union of Artists of Russian Federation) since 1953.